


Winter Tales

by MuscleMemory



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas, Fluff, M/M, ShadowAdvent2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 16:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuscleMemory/pseuds/MuscleMemory
Summary: Magnus and Alec get trapped in a magic spell that makes them into involuntary participants in Christmas tales.





	Winter Tales

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Shadow Advent challenge on Twitter https://www.shadowadvent.co.uk go check the great stories out if you like! 
> 
> Thanks to my betas @alyxhavok and @sufferwell1013 <3

Warmth is engulfing him, golden light slowly dispersing to reveal a shape, a body, a face, dark hair, light skin, hazel eyes, a blinding smile. He smiles, as well. He feels long, callous fingers on his skin, gently scraping over his muscles, sending tingles over his body, euphoria into his heart. The hazel eyes are close now, so close his eyes are watering. Alexander.

He’s watching him, eyes full with a shine, a heat, that’s reserved only for Magnus. He remembers reaching out to touch Alexander’s face, trace it with his fingertips, a strand of hair falling onto his forehead he never managed to caress away as their faces came together, their mouths warm and wet, wanting, loving… darkness.

He blinks, a splitting headache surging through his skull as he lets out a low groan. He’s disorientated, confused, aching… he feels drugged, but he’s aware of it being a magical induced toxin, not lethal, but powerful enough to knock him out and leave his mind fighting for coherent thoughts. It’s hard to move, his limbs heavy, yet numb. He can’t see anything. Wherever he is, it’s cold and dark, and he has no recollection of what happened.

He was with Alexander, they were making love… this morning? Is it still the same day? If so, where is he?

“Alec?” He’s rolling onto his side, feeling more nauseous with the movement, stretches out a hand to reach for something that might be near, but there’s nothing. He rests for a moment, trying to get rid of the whirring in his mind.

He remembers shopping with Jace, who was nervous of finding the right present for his Parabatai, now that they’d all decided to have a proper Christmas together, his newfound family and friends. He remembers teaching Izzy and Max how to bake his favorite cinnamon cookies while explaining to them different ways people celebrate Christmas or similar festivities all over the world, and what it means to him personally. He wanted to have them all together in one place, just the one time, to see them happy, safe, show them how much they are appreciated in his life, and each other’s.

He feels himself drifting away again, moves up too quickly to prevent it and loses consciousness.

When he comes to, his mind is still foggy but not as sickly, he remembers being with Alexander. He was above him, laughing, sporting a slight stubble, eyes gleaming, a softness in his features, sleep-warm skin. He remembers the smell of him, of his hair, his breath… then… nothing.

He blinks and slowly sits up. There’s a strange mist around him; dull, grey, ice cold air. He slowly lifts himself and the mist dissipates.

He’s surrounded by snow and ice. A clear, almost white sky above him. He’s definitely not in Brooklyn, and he’s alone… except, looking ahead he can see strange, small creatures resembling yetis, pulling carts and sleighs of all kinds of objects. He watches them, wondering whether he’s truly having a deep, very weird dream.

He decides to follow them, even though one of the creatures shoots him a disgruntled look. They arrive at a palace, seemingly made entirely of ice, and there’s something in the back of his mind, slowly becoming clearer. His last memory isn’t of Alec and himself anymore, they were called to the Institute. Izzy was there with Aline and Helen, Lydia and Jace, being dragged away from the Christmas preparations they all were doing to celebrate the Holidays, for everyone who wanted to take part, but something curious happened. Magical activities they couldn’t place. Not a demon, not a warlock - as far as they could tell - but what, or better, who was it? Magnus doesn’t remember.

He stops, an ominous feeling spreading inside his chest as he watches the creatures enter the massive doors of ice that opened as if by magic upon their arrival. The palace is huge, a tower of crystal clear blue ice, its peek sharp, auguring danger. Huge ice crystals, delicately and intricately formed, shape the pathway into the palace. He shudders involuntarily, turns as his eyes take in an oncoming snow storm from the West, his body tense with caution, and he decides within a split second before he quickly slips through the doors just before they shut; a shrill scraping of the large ice fronts touching.

As he turns back, he can’t make out the doors any longer, just an endless wall of smooth light-blue ice. The creatures have disappeared, either to one of the four corridors leading into the palace or up the large, serpentine staircase. Everything is ice, and Magnus can feel it penetrating his insides, as it is slowly but surely taking him over. Whatever he must do here, and he has a premonition he is looking for something, or someone, he must do it fast. He is almost certain what is happening here is the work of the magic they encountered back home, but his mind is still too dazed to put the pieces back together.

Ice statues greet him wherever he looks as he ascends the large, long-winded staircase, all of the same woman. He suspects her to be the master of this place, and he has a feeling he doesn’t want to encounter her if at all avoidable.

He arrives at a long corridor, walks past extraordinary crafted art pieces and objects - all made of ice - and finally another massive door he pushes open with some effort. A memory hits him, dizzying his mind. Powerful, unique magic, full of mischief, illusions and tricks. A faerie… seemingly part warlock; a peculiar, unique magic user he wanted to learn more about. He remembers them now. Alec was with him when they appeared, but where is he now?

He can feel how his body becomes colder with each step, a hunch gnawing at him, afraid he might be too late… what for, he can’t tell, but there’s an urgency filling his mind, driving him.

“Alec!” His breath freezes in the chill air, shivers rippling his body as he spots him,

partly frozen, just standing there in another room made of ice. His hair and skin are white, his eyes veiled, blueish grey, unseeing, unmoving.

Before he can get to him, loud noises reach him from outside, and he hurries to the large open window. He sees six white horses and a carriage of ice with a woman as pale as snow, long white hair glowing with ice crystals, yelling in a foreign language for the horses to hurry, taking up into the sky, flying. The master of the palace. _Snow Queen_. It suddenly comes to him, not that it makes any sense, at least not yet. But he’s read them all, all the old and even ancient myths, legends, fairy-tales. He’s known some of the original authors, even lent an idea or two at a time. This is the Snow Queen’s palace, and she’s off to hinder spring from arriving as she wants to reign over her frozen world forever.

And Alec… he turns abruptly toward him, rushes back and takes a closer look. In the story there were two kids, siblings. Magnus’ mind is on overdrive, trying to remember the whole tale. The Queen took a hold over the brother, Kay, and the girl, Gerda, freed him… but there was something… he was frozen… but, no… there was something else, something more curious…

He observes Alec’s face thoroughly, but only when he stares into his frozen eyes, a tiny silver shine embedded in one of them, does he remember. Shards of a magical mirror got stuck in the boy’s eye and heart, damning him to freeze and forget all the beauty in the world. The girl had to melt her brother’s heart to save him.

Magnus immediately tries to warm his love with his own magic, but finds it’s futile in this… whatever this truly is. He starts to talk to him, telling him he’s here, he won’t leave, and that he’ll free him, no matter what it takes. He tells him about beautiful memories, about Izzy and Max, his Parabatai, about their life and love, all the challenges and dangers they had faced and come out of alive, stronger, together. They’re all missing him, wanting him back. His words are soft, soothing, warm, his breath white in the air, and it might be a figment of his imagination, but he finds Alec’s cheeks a touch warmer suddenly, his lips feebly rosy, his eyes showing tiny spots of brown inside the cold.

He continues to talk to him, making himself emotional, shedding a few tears as he remembers all they’ve been through, all the wonderful and hard days they shared. Their love the one thing he never has to doubt, giving him reason to never give into apathy and despair. He keeps caressing Alec’s face gently as the cold spreads into himself, but he can’t care, only to free his love from this dangerous magic.

He presses a kiss on Alec’s very cold lips, lingering there, and when he opens his eyes again, Alec’s are looking back at him, a few tears spilling, washing away the shard of the mirror. Alec’s suddenly aware and they hug tightly as Magnus feels warmth unfurling inside of him again. They must have broken the spell.

“Where are we? What happened?” Alec feels hazy, dream-like, and confused, shivering, remembering a weird sensation, darkness, a coldness he’s never felt before and feeling afraid, lost.

Magnus attempts to explain quickly, but he knows they have to get out, shatter the illusion completely as the palace all of a sudden begins to crack and screech, to crumble, huge ice blocks falling down on them, the creatures screaming, running from the collapsing building as are they, hands tightly intertwined, no way of letting go. But they don’t make it out, instead, a deep dark hole opens beneath them and swallows them whole.

~~~

Alec opens his eyes as if waking up from a dreamless sleep. He’s standing in the middle of a street, disbelievingly observing the ongoings around him. People are walking, a few kids running and shouting, wearing strange clothes. The town is snow covered, the buildings very different from what he’s ever seen. He can’t put his finger on it. Bells are ringing somewhere and there’s music, it sounds like several people singing… a Christmas song?

He turns slowly, still not sure whether this is a dream or not, a horse carriage appears in his way suddenly, and he has to leap to the side as the carriage driver shouts something at him in an odd accent. Where the hell is he? And what is he wearing? He’s suddenly aware of the walking stick in his right hand, pointy black leather shoes, black pants and a long, black coat, a grey, plain scarf around his neck, and something on his head. He grabs it with his left hand, a large hat? Top hat? Magnus showed him a photo of Ragnor and himself wearing these, but… he looks up alarmed. Where is Magnus?

The houses are made of mostly wood and stone, and there seem to be no artificial light sources. He follows the footpath, careful not to step back on the cobblestone street, people watching him strangely, some with caution, some weary, some downright hateful. He has no idea what’s going on, but everything looks… old. It must be a different time, even age. His skin is crawling with nerves and unease for why he’s here, and how he’ll get home, and most importantly, finding Magnus.

“Excuse me, can you-” He addressed a couple of men walking past him, dressed in old-fashioned tail coats, scarfs and hats, but they ignore him, hurrying away.

“What the fuck?” He murmurs to himself as he walks on, wondering angrily why he has a stupid walking stick, and why he’s not simply throwing it away? But all of this has to have a reason… and once he finds Magnus, he will know, right? Or at least, they’ll be together, and they’ll figure this out. Like always.

It’s getting dark quickly, and Alec’s still walking the town, hoping he’ll spot Magnus wandering about as lost as him around the next corner, or the next. But he isn’t that lucky. When a couple of boys head past him, he takes courage again. “Hey, guys, can you help-”

He feels an icy, wetness in his face suddenly, hears someone laughing and when he wipes it off, he figures one of the kids threw a snowball into his face. He’s not sure whether he’s more angry or simply perplexed as he watches them running away. Why does everyone here seem to dislike him? They can’t actually _know_ him. And where should he go? What is he supposed to do? He doesn’t have his weapons or stele, he has no idea what time and place this is, or where Magnus is, or anything at all. He takes his scarf off to wipe his face dry and looks around, feeling a little desperate at this point.

Across the street from him is a huge house, a rather large staircase made of stone leading up to it, a big ornament serving as a door knocker. Something seems to be telling him to go there, and as he has nothing better to do…

The door knocker resembles a lion, made of copper, and when Alec looks up, he’s in shock to see _Lightwood_ in faded black letters on top of the large doors. What’s the meaning of this? The letters blur suddenly, and the doors open and he’s pulled in before he can read the new words properly. _Ebe- Scroo_ \- is all he could make out and it makes no sense to him. The doors close as if by magic and he finds himself inside a big, dark hall, a long wooden staircase leading upstairs. There’s nothing here. A few candles and matches, the walls of the building barely leaving the cold outside. He shudders and lights a candle then ascends the stairs, hoping he will find some answers, or at least, a hint that will guide him towards solving this mystery, and to Magnus.

He finds a sparse bathroom, and bedroom, as cold and as dark as the whole house seems to be, and even as he lights more candles and a couple of oil lamps he finds, he can’t get rid of the clammy, ill feeling that seems to fill him whole by now. He leaves the walking stick by the door and looks outside of the windows. Ice crystals are spread over half of the glass, and he shudders. It seems a lot less lively in this part of town, a dimly lit street lantern all the light he can see from here, and the only living being is a bird landing on the snow covered ground, picking for something to eat.

Alec sighs and looks back at the bed, wondering who used to sleep here, and how they didn’t freeze to death. Or maybe they did? It doesn’t look like anyone’s still coming home. Nevertheless, he waits.

The clock bell strikes midnight suddenly and he startles, sitting on the chair next to the window. Did he drop off? He can’t recall even sitting down. His heart stops abruptly as his attention is drawn to the closed door, an ominous green light streaming in from the gap at the foot of the door, and the keyhole.

A second later the door is pushed open and Alec leaps upwards, his heartbeat thrumming in his chest, instinctively grabbing for his weapons, of course not finding them, his eyes focusing on the stick by the door, too far away to grab.

He blinks as his first thought is… this must be a ghost. Translucent in green light, wearing chains around its body, feet and hands. What the fuck is going in here?!

Before Alec can ask, the ghost is talking to him about things he doesn’t understand at all, about torture and other ghosts and changing his life before it’s too late, and about someone he’s never heard of. _Ebenezer Scrooge._ It’s almost as if the ghost thinks _he_ is this person.

“My name is Alec Lightwood, I’m not from here, I’m looking for someone called Magnus, do you know him?”

The ghost seems to not even hear him, wailing on about sacrifice and again about changes before it’s too late, and that they - whoever they are - will come for him soon. Then he flies through the window, and up into the sky before he disappears. The weirdest thing is that Alec feels as if he’s seen this before, heard those words, even that strange name. But how? Where?

He frowns darkly, feeling messed around and ridiculed more than scared now. What the hell is this crazy place? And who’s this man the ghost was talking about, and _why him?_

Memories reemerge suddenly. Magnus told him! In that ice palace… someone using magic to make up illusions, and… why does his mind seem so holey? They were together, in that illusion, but now where is Magnus? He had to break the spell, rescue him from that palace. He did, because he knew how. But this is so different? And is Alec the one who needs rescuing, or is Magnus trapped somewhere? And if so, how will he ever find out where and how to save him if he has no damn clue-

Another memory shoots into his mind. But he can’t make sense of it. Clary, Simon, and Jace,  in the loft… they were… watching something. And Alec was… writing, but he could see them from the desk. Magnus was out working, he thinks. It must have been just a couple of weeks ago. Yes, he remembers more. They were watching a movie, one Clary and Simon obviously knew well because they kept talking about it and what was happening, explaining it to Jace who seemed anything but thrilled. At first… Alec thinks he remembers him crying at some point, but he has no idea why. Or why this memory is important at a- wait.

Scrooge. That name came up in the movie. For sure. The movie was about someone called Scrooge, an old, bad man, and there was something about money, him not helping other people, and… _ghost of Christmas past._ Why is he remembering this? What did Magnus say… the illusion was about a fairy tale, something that exists in their world, the mundane world, anyway. So, this is… also something like that? But… a movie? He throws his hands over his head, taking a deep breath. His mind is going too fast and it’s all jumbled up, he has to figure this out, but he really hates this faerie trickster for doing this to him, as even Jace would have a better chance at solving it, now he’s actually seen the damn movie!

He lets his arms fall, looking out of the window again. “So, here I am this Mr. Scrooge? And that’s why everyone hates me, and the ghost acted as if I were him, too.” So, if he is this man now, he has to do what he did? He growls in frustration. He has no damn idea what he did or didn’t do! He was a jerk, is all he remembers.

Suddenly the door opens again, and another ghost appears. It seems to be made of light mostly, shining brightly, with golden eyes. It introduces itself as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and before Alec can get chance to try to explain himself, it takes him, and they’re flying away, the town getting smaller beneath them. He’s not even scared anymore, just pissed off by now. He doesn’t want to play this stupid game of being a fictional character in a damn story he hardly remembers, having to figure out what to do and being ignored and dragged around without any say. But he still has hope that he will find Magnus at some point, and that makes him go along without complaining - too much.

The ghost shows him some of Mr. Scrooge’s past, when he was happy, when he had love, then it takes him back to the house, confusing Alec even more. What was the point? He wishes he had paid better attention to what Clary and Simon were saying. Moments later, however, the next ghost appears, looking like a large Santa almost, wearing a long green coat of satin, a maroon beard and his eyes also glow golden, almost familiar. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes him around the city, showing him people he supposes Mr. Scrooge would know, but Alec has no idea who they are, and frankly doesn’t even care. He just wants to get out of here, get Magnus, and pay the magic user who did this to them back.

He stops to feel angry, though, when the ghost is showing him a family, a rather poor one, preparing for Christmas dinner, one of the kids, a boy, looking rather sick with a hurt leg and wooden crutches, and he remembers why Jace was crying. “Will he live?” He asks without realizing it, a memory from the movie coming back to him, and the ghost answers just like then. "If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die."

Alec freezes, unable to stay unaffected by the sight of the family, the boy who seems very brave, even though he knows it’s only fiction. He will die? Surely he can’t die. It’s a Christmas tale, cheerful and hopeful and all that stuff. Also, Clary, Simon, and Jace were happy at the end, so… what does he have to do? He asks the ghost, who, of course, doesn’t answer him now.

Back at the house he loses no time and heads outside, not wanting to wait for the last ghost. He knows that Mr. Scrooge has a lot of money, in his shop, he just has to find it, and give it all to the family, or the town, everyone, doesn’t matter - that must be how he gets out of this story.

But the Ghost of Christmas Future finds him, a creepy shadow made of darkness, just the golden eyes seemingly out of place, again somehow familiar, but Alec has no time to spare, as he tries to argue with it that he already knows and is willing to give away all of the money and help everyone in need. The ghost ignores him, grabs him with his long, boney, black hands and takes him away. Alec curses and struggles, but he can’t free himself. He’s thrown into a cemetery, shown awful, horrid deaths and his own - well, Mr. Scrooge’s - who dies alone, not one person attending his funeral, people celebrating his passing.

Alec could scream, wanting to let out his frustration of having no control at all in this stupid tale, having to endure being thrown about and again pulled up into the sky. What happens then, he doesn’t know, as he wakes up lying on the bed in Mr. Scrooge’s house, and it’s morning. He hurries outside, ignoring people watching him oddly as he runs through the town in search of the shop, finally detecting it and standing in front of it, not getting inside as he doesn’t have a damn key. He curses loudly, hitting the door with his fists and kicking it, stopping abruptly as a hand with a key comes into his view, and as he looks up, he recognizes the father of the boy, his - no, Mr. Scrooge’s employee. He takes it, calms himself and unlocks the door, heading inside. “Mr.-, um-” Shit, what’s his name again? “Please take all the money you need for your family, your son, and give the rest away to… charity? Anyone in need.” He finds the key to unlock the safe and leaves it open. “Have a good day, um, Merry Christmas.” He mumbles, smiles uncomfortably at the shocked looking man, and heads out, hoping this nightmare is finally at its end.

But he feels his hope crushed the moment he spots the last ghost, it's dark cloak and hood floating around him, the glowing eyes piercing Alec.

“C’mon! Enough! I did everything that needed to be done, let me out of this bloody story right now!” Alec’s enraged and past frustrated, but the ghost just comes closer and extends one of his black, boney hands, making Alec stare at him, an eyebrow raises suspiciously, his mind confused.

Does this damn ghost really think he’ll go anywhere with him again? But then he catches his eyes again, and their shape changes, still golden, but a black slit in the middle, cat-like. Alec’s eyes grow big and he does reach out to take the ghost’s hand, and he feels him being pulled away from him, but he holds on, and the boney fingers turn into flesh, and Alec’s heart races madly as he grabs the arm tightly with both of his hands, a body appearing from the darkness, very familiar to Alec, and when Magnus is finally free, he presses him so tightly against himself that he presses out the air in his lungs, wrapping him into his arms. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it was you.”

“It’s okay, I had no way of letting you know, I could only say and do what the ghosts in the story did, until now. But you figured it out.” Magnus smiles proudly at him, and Alec flushes.  
  


“Well, if not for Clary and Simon watching that movie, we’d be in deep shit.” He smirks as Magnus laughs softly, and then their lips touch with relief, but just for a moment as the ground beneath them starts to open up once more, dragging them under.

~~~

When Magnus regains consciousness this time, he’s facing a large rabbit, Santa Claus, the Sandman and the Tooth fairy, and he doesn’t have to think long this time to know he’s supposed to be Jack Frost when he moves the staff in his hand and ice crystals magically appear all around him. He really hopes Alec isn’t Pitch Black, though, and he is so tired of this game, but trapped inside the spell he has no way of creating the magic he needs to counter it.

Something seems different, though, as the characters before him start to blur, their voices distorted, and he feels as if his body is dissolving, disappearing in the ground, without him being able to do anything about it.

He finds himself on hands and knees on another ground, snow and soil beneath him, but he recognizes his own clothes, and when he moves up, his eyes instantly fall on someone beside him, lying on his back. “Alec!”

Magnus rushes to his side, caresses his face and feels glad when he opens his eyes that focus on him. “Magnus? What the hell? Where are we now?” He sits up slowly with Magnus embracing him and they look around, a familiar sight greeting them.

“Brooklyn Bridge Park.” They’re back home, which means…

“They’re over there!” A familiar voice shouts, their heads turning towards the sound, relief washing over them as they spot Jace, who no doubt felt Alec’s whereabouts through their bond as they came back, Clary, Izzy, Simon, Lydia, Ragnor, Catarina, Maia, and Luke also coming their way.

They get on their feet, hugging their family and friends immediately, all relieved and happy they’re back together.

“I’m sorry it took us a while to find the right counter spell, and the culprit to trap.” Catarina steps back to look Magnus over, seemingly glad he and Alec seem fine.

“It’s alright, dear, we’re just glad you did. Being puppets in old and new fairy tales became dreary fast.” Alec agrees instantly, then they have to explain what happened exactly, as they’re all very curious to know.

“But isn’t that kinda cool?” Simon asks as they’ve all left the portal, occupying the loft now. Alec just shoots him a dark look, making it clear he did not find it cool in any way.

Magnus can see how it could be, but not when being used and given no free will. But something else catches his eye. “Who did all of that?”

The loft is decorated beautifully, the table set, the smell of delicious food filling the rooms. Magnus was going to quickly magic it all into place due to time pressure, but he must admit, this looks rather perfect to him.

“We all did. While Catarina and Ragnor were creating the spell, we got busy.” Maia smirks, apparently rather proud of her and her friends’ work.

“Clary and I did the tree.” Jace remarks, then quickly heads over to where one of the figurine angels fell to the side to correct it, Clary grinning adoringly at him, knowing how perfect he wanted it all to be, having every faith in their warlock friends to get Alec and Magnus back in time to celebrate.

“And I did all the cooking.” Izzy announces, a broad smirk on her face, her words erasing Alec’s and Magnus’ smiles instantly.

Lydia snorts, and Clary and Simon start to laugh, though, and Izzy rolls her eyes mock-offended. “Fine, I only did the baking with Max and mom. She, dad, Luke, and Jocelyn did the cooking.”

Alec grins and pulls her into his side for a hug. “I’m sure your baking is great.” He reassures her, and she smiles wonderfully.

“Well then, ladies and gents, let’s have dinner, everything else can wait until after Christmas, right?” Luke asks, looking around the room, finding everyone in agreement. He claps his hands contently. “Great, Helen, Aline, and Raphael should be here any minute, as well, now.”

Magnus takes Alec’s hand as everyone heads towards the table to sit, or to the kitchen to help get the food, and pulls him into their bedroom.

Alec raises an eyebrow at him, but Magnus can tell he’s curious, even a little excited. “Sorry, love, we can’t really do that right now.” He smirks and Alec purses his lips, amused and disappointed.

“But I just need you to myself for a minute.” Magnus takes his hands, brings them around himself and lets go, tracing over Alec’s body until he can cup his neck, their mouths touching, dragging against one another, warmth filling them, hearts beating louder, bliss and desire awakening deep within.

Out of breath, they part hesitantly, keeping their embrace, their eyes locked. “I must admit venturing through fairy tales as a part of them was not something I imagined us ever doing together.” Magnus smiles softly, his fingertips caressing Alec’s neck and hair while he can feel Alec’s hands stroking his lower back.

Alec nods meekly, his lip tugged lopsidedly. “Not something I want to repeat. I was losing my mind when I couldn’t find you and these damn characters ignored everything I said.”

Magnus can’t but chuckle at that. “You look completely dashing in a top hat, though.” He grins, enjoying Alexander’s eye-roll.

“I prefer us like this, and please tell me there’s no way this could happen again?”

Magnus shakes his head. “No, I’ll be prepared from now on, don’t worry, and once we’re done with festivities, I’ll have a word with our new friend, who certainly seems to be a lover of winter tales.”

“Mmm, but first you’ll have to find some time for me.” Alec leans closer, his face brushing Magnus’ as he finds his earlobe with his lips, and takes it in between, nipping at it softly.

Magnus closes his eyes, soft tingles spreading across his neck. “Oh, I will, Alexander, I promise.”

Alec moves back smiling, brushes his nose against Magnus’, then cocks his head to let their lips touch perfectly once again. He can wait, knowing Magnus always keeps his promises, and just having this moment with him right now is worth everything.

 


End file.
